Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hello LOSTIES!! Another episode of the final season is in the books, and it was another really solid episode. I loved it! Broken record? Maybe. But this show just keeps blowing my expectations away with new crazy twists. And, who is with me in anointing Hurley the MVP of the show? Just in this episode alone had had at least 5 classic lines. I hope I don't forget any of them. But referencing both Indiana Jones and Star Wars within minutes of each other is a new record for awesome! This episode gets another bona-fide WOW!!!! from me. And we have so much to get to that I'm going to skip my ramblings and get right into it.

Lighthouse - I'm sure there is some deep metaphorical thought that we could put into why the episode was named this. There is a Virginia Woolf novel called "To the Lighthouse". It's a supposed difficult read full of looking into psychological stuff rather than having much character dialogue. The producers hinted on their podcast (I did a recap of the podcast in the comments of the last blog) that the naming of the episode could have multiple meanings. But, the most LITERAL meaning is what we'll be taking away from it. And I'm really excited to discuss it! But, we have lots to discuss before we can get there!

In this episode, we follow Jack and Hurley on a whirlwind adventure from Obi-wan KaJacob. We also learn some very interesting things in Jack's Flash Sideways. And, in case you were wondering what is going on with Claire, no fear, we learned a whole lot more as we continue with Jin in the bear trap and Claire coming to her rescue. Let's dive in shall we?

Flash Sideways - Jack

If anyone still hasn't noticed, we are following the exact order of the centric stories from season 1. Pilot Episode was kind of Jack but a few others. The next episode was Kate (S1 Tabula Rasa) and then Locke (Walkabout). Jack's first full centric story where we learned of his father dying and the ghost being on the Island was next (White Rabbit). We will continue down this path until the 7th episode which was a Charlie-centric in season 1 (Notice I did not spoil because I did not say who the 6th episode revolves around! You can look that up on your own.). Anyway, unlike the last 2 centric stories for Kate and Jack, some time appears to have passed from Oceanic 815 landing.

Jack's Apartment

Jack has just come to his apartment from work. There are pictures of him and his father around the place. Jack seems to be in a rush. Getting changed out of his scrubs and putting on another shirt. But he looks in the mirror.

It has taken me awhile to catch on, but it cannot be a mistake. There has been a mirror in every Flash Sideways storyline this season. Jack on the plane noticing the cut in LA X, Kate looking in the mirror right before finding Aaron's eventual stuffed Whale (the same one he had in the flash forward episode where Kate was taking care of him), and the scene where Locke is in the bathroom, we see his face on the mirror, right before he decides to call Jack for a consult. He ends up hanging up the phone, but the mirror was still there.

Add on this scene where Jack notices the scar from his appendix being removed. We know from the timeline we have followed prior to this season, that Jack got sick on the Island and had to have his appendix removed by Juliet in season 4. ALSO, in the "Something Nice Back Home" episode, just like Aaron and his Whale. At the time there were questions by Rose to why Jack got sick. She said no one gets sick on the Island, why is Jack getting sick? Does it somehow tie into this Flash Sideways Jack? Well, let's keep going through the scene.

Jack's mother calls him complaining about not being able to find Christian's Will. She is still upset about them losing the body. Jack said the body might be in Berlin based on Oceanic the last time he checked. Jack tries to calm his mother down and says he'll be over soon. But then asks about when his appendix was taken out. His mother tells him he was about 7 or 8 years old. He collapsed in schoo and his father wanted to do the surgery himself but they wouldn't let him. She asked him if he remembers. Jack said "I guess I do."

Okay, so...WHAT? So now, Jack isn't just recognizing things from another timeline, he is forgetting stuff from THIS one? And again, it happened when looking in the mirror. There's also another mirror at play later in the episode. It has to be all related right? Lots of theories have been going on in the blog comments and everywhere in the LOST Blogosphere about maybe the SIDEWAYS Story being how LOST ends. It's the Epilogue to the show and due to unconventional storytelling, this is how LOST gives each character the ending they deserve. We had a suggestion in the comments (Kudos Weasel!) that suggested maybe the Sideways Events happened BEFORE the Island events. Maybe the Sideways LOSTIES are the ones that bring the Island up from the water, and it somehow starts up a new timeline where 815 crashes. All very interesting and thought-inducing theories. But now....I'm starting to think again that these stories are PARALLEL and tied to each other. Why is Jack forgetting how he got his appendix removed in this world when it is still months away for Island Jack who wouldn't have remembered this? (The surgery happens close to day 108 when they leave the island) Eh, I probably won't touch on this too much more and save it for the comments. It's all very confusing right now and I still need more information!

Jack has a Son!?

So back to the story, Jack sees the time (3:51 for anyone that really wants to know) and realizes he's late. We then see him in his car that he was driving around in Flash Forward land season 3 and 4. He goes to a private school to pick up a boy who has been waiting there for awhile. He does not look happy to see Jack. And we learn, that in Sideways land, Jack Shephard is a daddy! And his son's name is David. Woa... We just never know where this story is going to go! Jack's a Dad? How old is he? Who is the mother? Sarah? Why are they not together now? Same reasons?

Back at the apartment, David is very distant from his father. Jack keeps trying to talk to him. He said he hooked up cable in David's bedroom so he can watch the Red Sox (Jack trying to relate to his son with the Red Sox just like he and his father did. Ahhh remember in season 1 when Sawyer told Jack about meeting Christian in Australia and it was all tied together by the Red Sox? Highly Emotional stuff! Remember when Ben showed Jack the Red Sox winning the World Series?! WOW....and that was in that rough patch of season 3! Well, the Sox are back in season 6!)

Anyway, Jack sees that David has a book in his bag The Annotated Alice. It is a work by Mark Gardener who pretty much analyzes Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. Considering we got 2 Jack-centric episodes one in season 1 named "White Rabbit" and the season 3 finale called "Through the Looking Glass" this was a nice tie-in to keep the theme alive. Again, in that season 4 Jack episode "Something Nice Back Home" Jack reads some of Alice to Aaron. He also mentions that he used to read it to David when he was younger. If you recall from season 4, Jack said that his father read it to him. And it was one of the NICER things he had to say about his father to Kate. We get lots of themes of Jack being like his father in this flash sideways storyline so this all comes together quite nicely. I'm sure there is more to look into here, but I'm moving on!

David is still being pretty distant. Jack just wants to talk to the kid, but David said that they only have to spend time with each other once a month, so he just wants to get through it. Ouch.

Jack's mother calls looking for him. So he heads out . David has no interesting in going over there (we find out he had other plans later).

At Casa Shephard

Jack and Mom are looking through all of the files. Apparently, Christian had given his will to the Lawyers instead of his family. Probably the last moment of this scene gives the reason why!

Mrs. Shephard offers Jack a drink which he declines. She says "good for you" Is that indicating that Jack was a former alcoholic in this sideways story already? Or maybe she doesn't want him falling into his father's footsteps (was Christian an alcoholic? we just don't know). What we do know is that Christian liked the same drink that Sayid, Charles Widmore, Desmond Hume, Charlie Pace and Hugo Reyes like! Good ol' MacCutcheon Whiskey makes a return in Sideways land. And we know that is one expensive drink! Anything to look more into there? Eh, I'm not going there right now. But I did once suggest that Christian had formerly been on the Island prior to the coffin ending up in the cave. And perhaps Christian and Charles Widmore were acquaintances at one time. But, we have seen nothing on the show to suggest that yet except for the linking of Whiskey now!

Jack and Mom have a discussion about David being distant. Apparently, David was very sad at the funeral (which means they had it anyway without the body). There are similarities drawn out of this between Jack and David. Jack was quiet growing up and Christian couldn't get a word out of him. (This sounds like it may not have been much different in Island timeline either. We saw Jack as a boy in White Rabbit and he was very quiet. But Christian also told Jack that he "didn't have what it takes" when he fails). Anyway, Jack's mother advises him to talk to David and make sure he doesn't feel the same way that Jack did about Christian.

Then they find the will. And what name does Mrs. Shephard read in there? Good ol' Claire Littleton! She asked Jack if Christian ever mentioned the name to him. While we don't see Jack's response, I would assume the answer is no. Hmmm...looks like Jack and Claire might unite in THIS timeline as well! I'm very interested to see where they are going with the sideways story! It seems like everything is working towards these characters all meeting up at some point. But for what purpose and how does it tie back to the ISLAND, Jughead and what have you!? Oh boy, I need to stay patient!

Where's David?

Jack returns home with a Pizza and David is nowhere to be found. He leaves him a message and heads to the mother's house. Naturally, she's not home so we don't see who it is! Our first guess would have to be Sarah, which would beg the question of why they got divorced in this storyline and HOW did they meet? Because Jack met her in the other storyline by FIXING her miraculously with a seemingly "Jacob-like touch". What if Jacob didn't interfere in this sideways land? And that boy is relatively older than when Jack would have met Sarah in the original timeline. How long was Desmond training for his race around the world before he was marooned on the Island for 3 years? Couldn't have been more than a year right? That was the same episode that Jack fixed Sarah. This kid is at least 13 years old! So what gives?! I guess Sarah might not be the mother.

Anyway, Jack goes into David's room. We see a keyboard and lots of classical music lying around. The song is Chopin's "Fantaisie - Impromptu". Hmmm, fantasy? Red herring? I'm guessing.

Jack listens to answering machine in David's room and finds out that David had an audition for Williams Conservatory at that time. There was a 2nd message of Jack calling from Sydney after he found out about his father and just wanted to talk to David.

Williams Conservatory

I'm sure it's no coincidence that the sign said "Welcome All Candidates" when Jack showed up. Nice one writers!

Turns out Daniel is quite the prodigy at the piano and is having a fantastic audition. Jack is almost moved to tears.

A boy tells Jack that his son is very good. And this doesn't turn out to be an ordinary boy. It is SIDEWAYS Dogen's son! Woa...Dogen makes a comment about the kids being "too young to have this kind of pressure" And says it's hard to watch without being able to help. He talks about his son having a gift (seems like he's talking about more than the piano but I don't know). He asked Jack how long David has been playing. And Jack does not know. And that's the last we see of it. So what do we think? Is Dogen "in the know" of what is going on in BOTH timelines? Or is this just another coincidental meeting of Island people who are DESTINED to run into each other? People that were all "BROUGHT" to the Island by Jacob?

Outside of the Conservatory, Jack meets up with David and tells him how great he was. David was surprised Jack saw and admitted to messing up a few notes. Jack tells David how much he scared him by running off. David thought he could make it back in time while he was at "Grandma's". Jack then said he didn't know David was STILL playing the piano. David has asked his mother not to tell Jack. Because Jack would always watch over him like a hawk. He didn't want his father to see him fail. This made Jack tell David about his relationship with HIS father and how similar it was. Jack said he didn't want David to ever feel that way about him. In his eyes, his son could NEVER fail. He just wants to be part of his son's life. And with this David agrees. And then they're off to eat some pizza!

Awwwww another happy ending for Sideways Peeps! It does sure seem like life is better if the Island never was in existence so far right? Something tells me it's all a facade and as we dive deeper into Sideways land, all will not be what it seems. I'm biting my nails and on the edge of my seat in anticipation!

Jack and Hurley's Whirlwind Adventure

So we continue at the Temple after some amount of time passed since Jack's hero-esque pill popping incident happens. Jack is hanging out outside fo the temple staring into the water at his reflection (should we relate this to Jack's reflection in the sideways land? to his reflection later in this storyline? Or just director Jack Bender's idea of ART?) Dogen shows up to talk to him.

The Temple - Jack

Dogen was afraid Jack left. Jack asked if that was even an option to which Dogen said "everything is an option, but I would have to stop you." Jack appreciates his honesty. Dogen then asks if Ford, Austin or Kwon are ever coming back. Jack says they probably are not. Dogen then appreciates Jack's honesty. They have their "touche'" moment similar to Flocke and Sawyer last week (Sawyer not disclosing talking to Richard, Flocke pretending not to know what "boy" Sawyer is talking about) and they leave it at that for now.

Some time later, Sayid walks up to Jack and notices everyone staring at him. They don't seem to have talked since Jack's discussion with Dogen and the POISON. Sayid wants to know what Jack is hiding from him. Jack told Sayid that the pill was poison. The OTHERS wanted Jack to kill him. And they said it happened to "someone" else. They leave the scene then to show us some Claire/Jin stuff, but I would assume Jack told Sayid who this "someone else" was. But that's the last of the Jack/Sayid interactions for the day!

The Temple - Hurley

We first see Hurley playing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe with Miles. This is fantastic. First hysterical line of the night "Tie Again Dude" - Miles: "Shocker!" What a ridiculous game tic-tac-toe is. You do tie more often than win or lose! Who knew LOST would throw its 2 cents in?

Hurley then went into the temple to get some food and sees a guy hanging out by the healing spring. He asks if there is food anywhere. It's Jacob and he gives Hugo some directions. DUDE, Jacob?

Jacob then tells Hurley he needs him to do something. Tells him to get a pen to write a few things down. "Someone is coming to the Island and I need you to help them find it." woaaaaaa Who is coming? Naturally, we came close to finding out, but we didn't. Popular theories so far: Desmond, Ji Yeon (The "Kwon" candidate that wouldn't have been born had it not been for Jacob drawing Jin and Sun to the Island?), Charles Widmore, Aaron, someone we don't know?

The first thing I thought when Jacob is telling Hurley to help someone find the Island...well...was that we were going to see a "lighthouse" of some sort! But the 2nd thing I thought is that maybe we'd get an answer to how Richard came and went from the Island (possibly Jacob too) so easily. Remember when Ben asked Richard to "get the man from Tallahassee?" which was Locke's Father? They caused an accident and next thing he knew, Anthony Cooper was face to face with his son? Not sure if the Lighthouse will provide those answers to me, but it seemed we were getting closer!

Okay, so I'm sure lots of people will want to analyze Hurley's arm. But come on let's just LAUGH at Hurley's arm with the directions! He couldn't find any paper, so he wrote this huge thing out on his arm? Good times. The most legible thing we'll see on the arm happens later. Is this LOST's shout out to the first season (and arguably only good season) of Prison Break?

Hurley is sneaking down the Temple Hallways and looking at a bunch of hieroglyphic symbols that we have come to know and love on LOST. I'll be the first to admit I am no expert and if anyone has translations for what is on these walls, by all means post them in the comments, and I'll get them up on the blog with all credit to you!

Dogen finds Hurley and asks what he is doing and instructs him to go back to the courtyard. Hurley's 2nd hysterical line of the night "I'm just you know looking because I'm a big fan of Temples and like history. Like Indiana Jones Stuff" Ahh Good times!

Jacob shows up (only visible to Hurley). He tells Hurley to tell Dogen that he can do what he wants because he's a candidate. Hurley, then repeats this to Dogen and tells HIM to go back to the Courtyard. Dogen wonders where Hurley heard that he is a candidate. Dogen them rambles something off in Japanese that there is no way I can translate. Anyone want to do the honors? 2/25 - Kudos to Horseman for finding the translation on LOSTPEDIA: "You are lucky that you are protected. Because if you were not protected I would cut your head off."Jacob tells Hurley he is better off not knowing what Dogen said.

Jacob then tells Hugo that he NEEDS to bring Jack with him. Hurley said it's impossible to convince Jack to do anything these days. The all-knowing Jacob then smiles and helps Hugo find a way to convince Jack. 3rd hysterical line of the night for Hurley "I just lied to a Samurai!"

4th Hysterical moment for Hurley of the night. He heads out to courtyard and sits next to Jack instructing Jack to be all cool and that he wants him to follow him 10 seconds after he gets up. He found a secret tunnel that heads out to the jungle and that Jacob told him about it. Jack refuses to go anywhere. Hurley then said that he told Jacob he's say that. So Hurley pulls out the big guns from Jacob and says "You have what it takes." We mentioned earlier that in the White Rabbit episode, Christian tells Jack that he doesn't have what it takes. Jack is very intrigued now. Jacob told Hurley that Jack would know what that meant. Now Jack wants to meet Jacob. Anyone remember that I've been suggesting since Jacob was stabbed by Ben: maybe Jacob let himself die Obi-Wan style to become "more powerful than Vader could possibly imagine". Well Hurley confirmed what I was thinking by another classic line tonight: "He's kind of dead. Turns up whenever he wants like Obi-Wan Kenobi" I love this show for putting in writing what we're thinking and usually letting Hurley get to say what the we are thinking! Hurley then tells Jack that if he wants to see Jacob, that he is where they're going. This convinces Jack to go on Hurley's adventure! "let's go see Jacob!"

The adventure begins

Jack and Hurley are out in the Jungle and just happen to run into Kate. This scene was kind of random. Kate pointed the gun at Jack and then smiles and says "I almost shot you!!" Ummm, thanks Kate, Captain Obvious!

Hurley doesn't skip a beat trying to kick Kate out of the group and get her to the Temple. Kate says that she is going after Claire. Jack tries to warn Kate that something may have "happened" to Claire based on the Temple Folk. This convinces Kate even more that she has to find her. Jack wants them all to go together on Hurley's mission and THEN find Claire. Hurley "Dude, she's not invited." (I've lost track but I have to be close to 5 classic lines and there are still more coming) Kate splits ways with Jack and Hurley.

Later in the jungle Hurley apologizes to Jack to "wrecking your game with Kate." I really was laughing hysterically this whole episode! Jack said there was nothing to wreck. Hurley asked what ever happened between them. Jack said he wasn't cut out to be a father (which mirrors the flash sideways story). Hurley thinks Jack would be a great dad. awwww

The Cave

And then, the unthinkable happened. We see an inhaler lying on the ground! If anyone can recall back to Comic-Con 2009, Jorge Garcia showed up to ask the producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (also the writers of this episode) about how they're going to answer all of the questions. He specifically brought up if we are ever going to find out what happened to Shannon's inhaler. It was a joke at the time because Darlton had been saying that not everything is really a question that they had planned to answer. But what do you know, we got the answer anyway! Turns out Shannon's inhaler had been lying outside of the Caves all of this time. Way to look around guys instead of making Sayid torture Sawyer and have Kate kiss him!

As I was saying, Hugo's directions on his arm led them through the caves. The caves Jack first found in the White Rabbit episode.

But first, Hurley stops by our favorite 2 skeletons: Adam and Eve! I don't think we got our answer to who Adam and Eve were as much as they were reminding us they were still there and is a question they PLAN to answer. As we all know, Darlton has told us that when they reveal the identities of these bodies, we will know they had a plan since season 1!

Meanwhile, Hurley addresses lots of season 5 speculation that the bodies are a result of Time Travel. "What if we time traveled again to Dinosaur times, we died and got buried here? What if they are us?" Hysterical. But, that doesn't mean Hurley isn't necessarily right. Adam and Eve could indeed by 2 of the LOSTIES. Many have argued that it's Rose and Bernard. The problem with Dinosaur and Rose/Bernard theories is that Jack said the bodies were decomposing for 30-40 years or something like that (maybe 40-50) So it technically COULD be Rose/Bernard but they would have had to die like IMMEDIATELY after Jughead and be brought to the caves in 1977. I brought up that it could be the Man in Black and his significant other, but again the same issue with the dates. We will just stay tuned for an answer!

We then see Jack looking at his father's coffin. He tells Hurley why he really found the caves. He was chasing the ghost of his dead father (again - White Rabbit). He said that Christian led him there. And then he smashed up the coffin to pieces. Hurley asked why. Wait for it.....we've been wondering since season 1! "Because he wasn't in it" Okay, maybe we weren't wondering about exactly that. But we were wondering if Oceanic ever put Christian's body in the coffin. I'm still thinking that they did and that the body went missing. And we can debate in the final storyline of this episode if Christian = Smokey or something else. But, I'm still inclined to think something else for now!

The Lighthouse

Hurley and Jack continue on their way. Hurley then delivers another great line " This is cool dude. Very old school. You and me trekking through the jungle, on our way to do something we don't quite understand? Good times!" The best part is that "GOOD TIMES" is on the other end of the quote and not me reacting to the many things on LOST! And of course, Hurley is referring back to season 1 adventures. I would think mainly their expedition to the Black Rock. The producers did want us to get a season 1 feel to the final season. Get a sense of things coming full circle. They wanted to bring that sense of adventure and exploration back to the Island. Well, we're getting it!

Hurley then asks Jack why he came back to the Island. Jack asks for Hurley to reveal first. Hurley tells Jack about Jacob in the cab telling him he's supposed to go back. Jack tells Hurley that he was broken and that he was stupid enough to think that this place could fix it. OUCH. That Jughead "seemingly not working" Destiny mission for Jack has him in a very negative place!

Hurley then tells them they are close. And before we know it, we stumble upon The Lighthouse! And it has a very literal meaning indeed. I mean...it's a LIGHTHOUSE!

Jack wonders how they never saw this place before. Hurley suggests that maybe they weren't looking for it. But, is that the answer? Maybe they COULDN'T see it before? Doesn't seem like it was very far from the caves does it?

Jack got a good line in on Hurley when the door was locked asking if his arm tells him what to do if the door is jammed. Jack kicks in the door and they head up.

And what do we see? We see Mirrors and a Wheel with lots of numbers and names. Some of the names crossed off. Hurley's arm instructed him to turn the wheel to 108.

But let's dissect the wheel for a minute. If this is Jacob's lighthouse, then it looks like maybe he was tracking candidates on this wheel, right? So, I hate to eat my words that I said on last week's blog comments, but maybe Flocke was lying a bit? Even if he was lying, he was sort of telling the truth! But maybe the wall IS Flocke's wall and not Jacob's? Maybe they both have a list of names and are each crossing people off the list? Maybe the battle has come down to these 6 Candidates? (5 if you don't include Locke) We do see the same numbers associated with Jarrah, Ford, Kwon and Shephard. But guess what? There is also an Austin on there at 51 and not crossed off! What does that mean? Is this someone that maybe MIB isn't tracking and Jacob is? Or did we just not see her on the wall? Why wouldn't Flocke show Sawyer Kate's name? I think we actually see a 108 too and it's associated with a crossed off Wallace. Who is Wallace? It could be no one important or it could be a name I am totally forgetting from past seasons. We also see Rousseau on this list pretty close to Jack's name. But I think we saw her on the wall too. Here's a bunch of pictures of the wheel for dissection!

I am sure there will be lots to discuss on all of the names and the comparison to the cave wall.

But then, there is what happens when the wheel is set to one of the names. Images come up in the mirror! It looks like we passed by a couple of familiar locations. Like was that the Korean structure near where Jin and Sun got married? (or maybe it was Japanese and Dogen related?) Was that the church where Sawyer's parents' funeral was? And of course, we know that Jack saw something familiar on 23, his house from growing up that we saw in the Flash Sideways.

Jack gets very frustrated by seeing this. He tells Hurley he grew up in that house. Hurley's response "weird" Jack starts to think it over and realizes Jacob has been watching him since he was a kid. That he's been watching all of them. He starts demanding from Hurley to see Jacob. Hurley just assumed he'd be there. Jack wants to know why Jacob was watching him. He demands for Hurley to ask him. Hurley doesn't know what to do because Jacob isn't there. Jack grabs a telescope and asks Hurley what Jacob wants from him. Hurley doesn't know anything. Jack is losing it and then he smashes the mirrors with the telescope. ooooh boy. And Thank you ABC for showing us that in the previews! At least previews for next week were very sketchy. I like it!

Jack still ain't a happy man! But apparently, this is all part of Jacob's plan too. We'll get there in a second.

I guess I got so caught up in the details, I did forget to mention the NUMBERS again. We learn a little bit more about the numbers. Maybe Jacob just "didn't have a thing" for numbers but the numbers coincide with DEGREES on the Lighthouse Wheel. Now, whether there is a reason that the names have to be at that particular place on the wheel? I don't know. But according to the podcast, Darlton told us that THIS is what they mean by providing answers to things without getting to the very "midichlorian" (star wars prequel reference) detail of things. I'm fine with that!

Outside the Lighthouse

We next see Jack on a cliff looking out to the ocean pondering his next move. Pondering probably his entire existence and figuring out some purpose.

Meanwhile Hurley looks on from afar and gets a visit from Obi-Wan again.

Hurley is not too happy with Jacob. He asked where Jacob was and thanked him for the 7 years of bad luck for breaking the mirrors. Classic! Jacob tels Hurley that he has ink on his forehead. Ahh Ghost Jacob has a sense of humor too! Hurley argues that the mission is "UNACCOMPLISHED" and there is no way for this person to get to the Island now. Jacob tells Hurley "THEY" will find another way. Maybe it's more than one person or are they still trying to disguise that it's a male or female?

It turns out that Jacob wanted Jack to see what he saw and to react the way he did. Jack has to "DO" something and it's going to take Jack to figure out what that is. No one can show him the way. Some people can be convinced in the back of a cab, others need to look out into the ocean. NICE! Jack still does have some purpose. And it sounds very important. Jack is continuing back to his HEROIC self. But just had to hit one more session with Rock Bottom!

Having said all of this, they seem to really be indicating that MIB is Evil and Jacob is Good. And we have been told by Darlton to not make assumptions. So while Jacob is still being all friendly and providing direction, it might not be all that it seems! But it's hard not to support Jacob at this point! This dude has a plan!

I love the relationship Hurley and Jacob are developing too. Hurley tells Jacob to not keep him in the dark next time. He hates secret plans. Jacob seems to enjoy Hurley's perspective on things as well. Good times!

But the big news Jacob delivers is that his real plan was to get Jack and Hurley as far away from the Temple as possible because someone bad is going there! Hurley wants to go back and warn them. But Jacob says it's too late. Hmmm is Smokey headed that way to get his claimed man?

Claire and Jin

When we last left Jin, he was caught in a Bear Trap, and Claire picked off Aldo and Justin with Rousseau like rifle-accuracy! We resume there:

Claire "rescues" Jin

Dirtied up Claire checks Justin to see if he was alive. He is seemingly dead. Anyone that read last week's Cover story in Entertainment Weekly, would have known otherwise!

Jin asks Claire how long she has been out here. Claire told Jin that since they all left and asks how long that was. Jin tells her it has been 3 years. Reminded me of Rousseau and Sayid's first meeting "16 years, has it been that long?" Claire promises to get Jin some place safe. Jin passes out from the pain.

Back at Casa Claire

This hut that Claire made for herself looks very much like Rousseau's bunker. It even has some Black Rock dynamite in there for a rainy day! And it would appear lots of supplies from the Medical Hatch. The one place Claire actually had been to on the Island besides the beach, caves and the barracks. Notice, the cradle that was in Aaron's room at the medical hatch is here as well.

Jin wakes up and his leg is not doing too well. He looks in the Baby carriage and sees something really disturbing! I don't even know where to start explaining? I guess Claire has made herself an imaginary baby? But it sure looks like a creature of some sort! Is it supposed to be a stuffed animal version of Tawaret? The statue? God of Life and fertility? I just have no idea. Anyone want to throw up a suggestion?

Claire's demeanor is very Rousseau-like, right down to the very detail that she is missing her baby and is blaming the OTHERS for his kidnapping. She brings Justin (alive) into the hut and told Jin that he was only pretending to be dead.

A lot of what follows is a back and forth between Claire and Justin trying to convince Jin what to do. Justin was telling Jin that Claire is bad news. Not the same Claire he knew. She will kill both of them. Claire is convinced that the Others stole Aaron. Jin asks why she is so convinced? Claire told him that first her father told her and then her friend told her. So, we know that the last time we saw Claire in season 4 she was with Christian Shephard. We have been trying to figure out if Christian is another incarnation of the Smoke Monster or something else entirely. We'll tackle this more in a bit.

I think we were meant to think that thing in the cradle was Claire's imaginary friend for a bit. But we sure learned otherwise later! Claire then asks Jin if he is her friend. And he tells her yes, of course.

Claire fixes Jin's wound. Sews him up and even brings up that she had to sew herself up after the OTHERS shot at her once. Woa... this Claire is crazy! But at the same time, she still seems like CLAIRE, right? Dogen said that Sayid wouldn't even resemble the person he was before. Claire seems misdirected that The Others have her child and seems angry about it. She develops survival skills over the next 3 years and she could be like this right? Of course, we also know that she is "claimed" but we don't know exactly what that means either. We don't know if she died or not. But we did find out she was also brought to the temple and tortured just like Sayid. So maybe she did die but not in the Barracks Explosion as we previously thought? Well, then why would Miles be looking at her so strangely?

Anyway, she also said that the Others stuck her with needles too. We haven't seen them do that to Sayid yet. Something tells me we need a little Claire backstory. But I'm guessing her centric episode will be a flash sideways. This is the only thing I'm not liking about the Flash Sideways. I hope we still get a Richard back story and a Man in Black backstory and we don't see Off-Island Sideways Richard living in the 1800's about to board a ship that gets to its destination! And I want to see what happened to Claire! But something tells me we were just TOLD what they did to Claire to avoid having to see a flashback. I'm sure the LOST masterminds have a plan!

Anyway, Claire is about to take down Justin with an Ax after repeatedly asking about Aaron (to which Justin truthfully admits they don't have him). Jin, finally bursts out telling Claire that Kate took Aaron and raised him off of the Island. He's 3 years old now. Justin then tells Claire it's true and that he promises if they let him go he won't tell anyone he saw her. Claire, crying, just takes the ax and shoves it right into Justin's gut. OUCH. That Justin sure seemed like a nice OTHER. Oh well!

A Friend Arrives

Claire assures Jin that if she didn't kill Justin he would have killed her. Based on Dogen trying to get Jack to poison Sayid, maybe this is true.

Claire then asks why Jin told her that Kate was raising Aaron. Jin, thinks this over before responding and decides to lie sensing something isn't right with Claire. Jin told Claire he was lying and just wanted to save Justin's life. He then says the others DO have the baby and he is at the temple. Jin says he can take her there and knows a secret way there.

Claire then tells Jin she is so glad he was lying because she would have killed Kate. Oh boy...foreshadowing! Surely, that can be how Kate meets her demise, if at all! At this point, I guess I could say that maybe Claire was not Claire. Something is pulling at her strings.

And right on cue, Flocke shows up! Jin, very surprised to see him (since he probably was informed of Locke's passing), says "John???"

And Claire says that it's not John. "This is my Friend!"

BOOM LOST!!!

Nice!! Okay, so smokey is definitely the one that "CLAIMED" Claire. My first reaction to this was that maybe Christian Shephard IS Smokey. Since Claire was with him in the cabin. But Claire definitely could sense that this man was not John Locke. She knew that it was something else. Now maybe Flocke appeared to her before like when Sun and Ben were at the barracks and Flocke went away for a little while. But Claire pointed out that her FATHER told her Aaron has been taken by the Others and her FRIEND told her. Seems like 2 different things right? So since Christian's body is indeed missing from the coffin (which we were reminded again in the episode), does that mean Christian's body has been CLAIMED by Smokey just like dead Sayid was and possibly dead Claire? And this IS in fact the Zombie season of LOST? I just don't know yet. I'm sure everyone will have theories. But regardless of Christian Shephard's status (who has also appeared in ghost form OFF of the Island to Jack), it would seem that Flocke is going to work on his next recruit in Jin. And will all 3 of them head to the temple together fulfilling Jacob's prophecy of someone bad heading to the temple?

I don't know but I'm excited to find out! Another outstanding installment of LOST. And I will say again, Hurley for MVP! That dude needs to be on every mission from now until the end! Previews for next week, as I mentioned, were very sketchy but ABC assured us answers will be provided. And I am sure Darlton would warn us that ABC gets a little ahead of themselves. But I'm sure excited anyway!

So that's it for this week folks. I'm sorry if I missed anything or for any typos. It was a busy night and morning of blogging and I am a little sleep deprived! But as always, I look forward to our discussions in the comments. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I will see you next week! NAMASTE!

Ending Credits

LOST Merchandise/Contests:

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Special Thanks to Dark UFO for the excellent Screen Captures! And also thanks to my iMac as I was able to create many myself. So by default, thanks to ABC too for allowing me to post pictures on the blog!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Hello LOSTIES! I think my tweet right at the end of the episode said it all (apologies for the abbreviated profanity, I got a little excited!). This episode was absolutely fantastic! Anything you could hope for in a final season episode. Leave it to a Locke-centric outing to get us on track and absolutely fascinated to where this is all going! I've said it before, I'll say it again and again and again. WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW!!! I love this show, and there is nothing you can say to make me a hater! Reveal after reveal tonight on the Island. Suspense, a great one-liner from Ben, flying around the Island from Smokey's Point-of View, Candidates, numbers, and a creepy boy and his RULES. And WOW, a Flash Sideways that just totally kicked butt! Ladies and Gentlemen, the decision that Team Darlton worked out with ABC in season 3 to bring this show to a close in 3 years time was the best creative decision we may have ever seen a Television Series get the chance to make. Could you ever imagine being this excited about reveals in the 6th season of any other show where there was no end in sight? I am totally on board with what's going on and am enjoying every second of it.

But alas, me professing my love for LOST is not why we read these recaps, right? We want to dissect, analyze and discuss what we learned and apply what we already have learned and speculate to what we might learn! (will there ever be another show like this that we'll care about so much to do all of this hard work?) So with that, let's begin the recap!

The Substitute, the episode title could mean so many things. But the easiest one to figure out would be the reveal of John Locke's ultimate occupation by the end of the episode in SIDEWAYS land. It could apply to who is taking Locke's place on the Island right now. It could have something to do with all of this candidate talk. In the episode we followed 3 major story lines. We followed John Locke in Flash Sideways land after he returns from his trip to Sydney. Ilana, Ben and the non-temple Others are on a mission to get to the Temple but get sidetracked along the way. And yes, Flocke/Man In Black/Smokey goes recruiting. His first targets? Richard and Sawyer. Let's dive in!

Flash Sideways

John Locke

Things are different:

Well, it didn't take us long to note some of the differences in this new Locke adventure. We see him arriving to his house in a handicapped van (looks like he is able to drive it himself). He has some issues getting the lift to work to lower him to his driveway and has to force himself off. He ends up falling onto the lawn and the sprinklers go off. Note: Island Locke's love for predicting the weather and joyously looking to the skies when it rains on him. This did NOT look as exciting! But someone, came out of the house. And wouldn't you know it....

It's Helen! Helen is still with Locke in this timeline. Not only are they together, but they are not even married yet. They're engaged and supposed to get married in October. This raises the question to if Helen had been with him as long as they were together in the other timeline. Johnny boy still had hair in those days and it was right after his father conned him out of a Kidney. Locke was going to propose then but ended up helping his father "Anthony Cooper, Tom Sawyer, whatever you want to call the con man" get some retirement money out of a locker and get out of town. Helen caught him on it and broke up with him for good.

So, did all of this still happen this way? We have to assume that Locke was still paralyzed by getting pushed out a window by his father, right? So maybe Helen felt sympathy for Locke and went back to him in this storyline? Are we even going to dive that far into this new timeline? Does it matter in the long run? I guess what we need to know is that there are similarities but some things are different. And well, Locke and Helen are getting married. (UPDATE: Due to my frantic note taking, I missed Helen mention inviting John's father to the VEGAS Wedding. Whoops! That's a major miss and I apologize. Read on in the comments for possible implications due to this!)

Helen is stressing about the wedding, is sick of talking to caterers. She wants to run off to Vegas. But Locke convinces her they can do it. There is a sweet moment where Locke picks the wrong chair fabric (green) and then when he sees Helen's reaction "I meant blue!"

Helen aks John how his "conference" was. John clearly lied to why he went to Australia and this plays a role in later events.

Helen finds Jack Shephard's card and John fills her in on the consult. Helen seems to be the "WOMAN OF FAITH" in this relationship. She tells him how miracles CAN happen. She even talks about Destiny (something the other John Locke would totally be on board with) Locke sheepishly agrees but doesn't seem to buy it.

Did I mention Locke was taking a bath during all of this? I'll spare you from those pictures!

Back to the Box Company

Locke returns to the office that we have not seen since Episode 4 of Season 1 "Walkabout". This is the box company that we eventually learned was owned by Hugo "Hurley" Reyes. We find out that he still has an idiot of a boss.

Yep, that's right. Randy Nations makes an encore performance. We have seen Randy in Walkabout and various Hurley flashbacks. We came to find out that Randy was Hurley's manager at Mr. Cluck's before winning the lottery. Hurley ended up quitting his job there but then hired Randy to work for him. First, he continued to work at Mr. Cluck's but when the chicken shack got blown up, he went to work at the box company. In both jobs Randy was never the best boss. Anyway, long story short - he calls Locke out on not showing up to a conference in Sydney when he was there.

Locke took the company's money to make a trip to Sydney and go on his Walkabout. Randy, being the BLEEP BLEEP (insert your own terms) that he is, fires Locke on the spot. Ouch.

We actually do see pictures in Locke's cube of him hunting with his father. So we can probably assume he still had the unhealthy relationship with his father. So the interesting twist in this timeline is that Helen doesn't seem to care.

Outside of the office as Locke is leaving with his box of stuff, he cannot get into his car because a yellow Hummer is parked really close next to him. Anyone who has seen Hurley's season 1 episode "Numbers" knows that Hurley got a yellow Hummer after winning the lottery. And what do you know, Hugo shows up just in time for Locke to yell at him a bit. Funnily enough, Locke didn't park in the handicapped spot. I guess this goes into the theme that he wants people to accept him and for people to not tell him what he cannot do!

Hugo apologizes and they introduce themselves to each other. Hurley even comments about Randy being a huge D****E and everyone at home gets a good laugh! Hurley gives Locke a phone number for the temp agency he owns and pretty much guarantees John a job. "chin up. thinks are going to work out!" Here is the luckiest man alive talking all positive again. Nuts!

Temp Agency

The next scene is at the Temp Agency and we see a few familiar faces!

The first lady Locke talks to may look familiar to some but I'm going to have to help fill in the blank stare you may have. Remember Hurley's season 3 episode "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" when Hurley's Dad takes him to see a psychic and the woman gets bribed to tell him the numbers are cursed? Yep, same woman! Hysterical! Okay, after grabbing screen shots from both episodes, now I can see some differences but come on even the outfit is similar. Is it the same lady or am I going crazy?

(The Substitute)

(Tricia Tanaka is Dead)

Anyway, Temp lady asks what kind of animal John Locke thinks he is. Locke thinks she is ridiculous and asks for her supervisor. Her supervisor is none other than Rose Nadler! She is willing to help John get a job due to Hurley being her boss, but she is very aware of his condition.

John wants a site coordinator job at a construction site and Rose doesn't see him fitting the description. She then gets into her story of having terminal cancer. Looks like nothing is different there. Rose is sick, and because she doesn't go to the island, she is going to die. But in both timelines Rose had come to terms with her condition and she was able to live her life. She was advising John to do the same. Ironic, because Rose knew she was healed in the other timeline by seeing John in a wheelchair at the Sydney airport and then seeing him walking around on the Island. I am loving the potential of these Flash Sideways connections!

Rose seemingly has Locked convince by the end of the conversation to find him a good fit for a job.

The Next Day

Locke wakes up, does his morning ritual of getting in his chair. He looks at Jack's card and begins to call.

The receptionist at Jack's office answers "Can I help you?" Locke hears Helen coming and says "No you cannot" and hangs up. Helen questions Locke about the call and Locke says that Jack cannot fix him.

The doorbell rings and Locke's missing bag of knives shows up. (so much for my crazy theory about them disappearing to the Island in the other timeline! I knew it was too crazy anyway!)

Locke then tells Helen that he was fired for lying about going to the conference in Sydney, when he was really on the Walkabout. He tells her to open the case. Her look when she sees the knives was just like everyone on the Island in that very episode. Hurley: "Dude, who is this guy??"

But Locke explains how he wanted to go on his adventure in the outback. (I wonder if Abbandon told him to go in this timeline as well? It would seem that he wanted Locke to go on it before for Widmore's benefit to get him to the Island. What would be the benefit in this timeline? Maybe it was just "Locke's destiny" to end up going without Abbandon's guidance. Of course then that gets into the whole "did Jacob touch him when he fell out the window" conversation too!)

Locke explains how they wouldn't let him go on the outback because of his condition and how he started yelling saying "don't tell me what I can't do!" It sounds like it went down exactly the same way in both timelines. He also said that they were totally right for not letting him go.

Locke tells Helen he is sick of imagining what it would be like to "WALK" down the aisle but if she needs him to he doesn't blame her. And he said there are no such thing as miracles.

Helen still objects and says that there are miracles. The only thing she ever wanted was him. awwwwww She rips up Jack's card. Nooooooooo! He was going to FIX Locke!

Anyway, Locke and Helen kiss and they're happy in love. I don't think I mentioned this yet, but in the original timeline, Helen eventually gets sick and dies while John is on the Island (according to Abbandon). I wonder if her fate is the same in this one?

And of course, I won't comment extensively on the fact that when Locke and Helen were together in the original timeline that Locke had hair and it seemed like years prior to present day Locke. Meanwhile, Helen looks exactly the same age-wise as she did in those original timeline stories! These are all semantics!

The Substitute

In the final Sideways scene we see Locke coaching a high school volleyball team and then in a classroom discussing the reproductive system. Fun!

John Locke becomes a "Substitute" teacher! But it doesn't end there folks.

John wanders the halls looking for the faculty room. When he gets there we hear a very familiar voice complaining about the coffee filter. Locke argues that he would like some Earl Grey tea. To which this man states it is a gentleman's drink. This man is none other than Benjamen Linus!

Woa...very interesting. This raises lots of questions. Did Ben ever go to the Island in this timeline? Was the Island already submerged before he got there? Or, because the Oceanic crew never ended up there, Sayid never shot Ben causing him to be taken to the temple and submerged in their Innocence Taking waters? But that confuses me, because wouldn't the Oceanic crew have HAD to be there to blow Jughead and submerge the Island? Ahhhhh, but how would they have been there if they had never gone there in the first place? An ol' Catch-22! So perhaps the Island was submerged for another reason in this timeline and NOT jughead. I know, we have discussed all of these potentials before, but seeing NORMAL Ben as a teacher of European History in High School gets the wheels spinning for me!

Meanwhile in the Shadow of the Statue

Basically this storyline shows the remaining crew that traveled to the Statue mobilizing after the crazy events of Ben killing Jacob, Smokey killing lots of Ilana's people and then running off with Richard.

Inside the Statue

We see Ilana crying. Ben enters and Ilana demands to know what happened. Ben says that she wouldn't believe him but she demands anyway. Ben tells her Locke turned into a pillar of smoke and killed all of her men. She asks if it killed Jacob as well to which Ben lies and says yes. I wonder if Ilana knows that he is lying. Because apparently these RULES prevented MIB from physically killing Jacob.

Ilana asks where the body is, to which Ben replies that Locke kicked Jacob into the fire.

Ilana heads over the the distinguished fire and begins to collect the "ash" from the fire pit. Hmmmm...does Jacob's ash hold any significance to the ash that everyone has been using to protect themselves from Smokey? Does Ilana just need MORE ash and figures that she shouldn't waste Jacob's? Or does collecting Jacob's ash serve another purpose of "reincarnation" potential? Even though we know that dead is dead on this show! Just seemed like an interesting scene!

Ben asked why Locke took Richard. Ilana says that he is recruiting - something we'll get into in the Flocke storyline below. But it would seem like there is more than MIB's need to get home going on. Widmore did say that a "War" is coming to the Island. But maybe the war is to prevent MIB from leaving the Island with the candidates! (I'm getting ahead of myself)

Outside of the Statue

We see Locke's body with a bug on his face. Frank Lapidus has a classic line. "He's getting ripe!"

Sun and Ilana have a conversation. Apparently, all of the "OTHERS" left and went to the temple. Ilana mentions that now it's the safest place to be. Sun doesn't immediately agree to go. We find out that Ilana knows about Jin and that if he's alive and on the Island that he will be at the temple. So, are we to just forget that Sun knew that Jin was in 1977 and she will just blindly follow Ilana? I guess so, I'm sure Jack will fill her in when she gets there. Naturally, Jin is with crazy Claire now so I'm guessing their reunion will still be a ways off.

Sun insists that they need to bury John's body.

Some Gravesite (Oceanic?)

Ben and Ilana carry Locke in some man-made contraption for some distance to a beach site. They end up at a gravesite but never state if this is where the Oceanic Survivor camp was. It looked familiar though. The only reason I hope they are back there is because I want them to tie up that season 5 loose end of people shooting and chasing at Locke, Juliet, Sawyer and crew on their way to the Orchid and then the boat just vanishing by time travelling to Rousseau Times. Why they would be shooting at them? I have no idea. But no one in this crew would have been on that boat, so it could make sense!

Anyway, Ben asks why Ilana brought the body all the way to the statue. Ilana stated that she needed everyone to see the face of what they were up against. Ben asked what is to stop him from "changing his face"....Ilana says that he can't anymore. He is stuck this way. Interesting, so Smokey has to take the form of Locke now. Why?? What happened to cause that, Ben killing Jacob? Does that mean we will not see Christian Shephard anymore on the Island or could Shephard be a diferent entity or a "claimed" entity like Sayid/Claire since his body was missing from the coffin in season 1?

Ben and Frank dig out the grave for John Locke. The 4 of them drag John over and put him in. Michael Giacchino's awesome "Life and Death" score plays in the background. Ilana asks if anyone wants to say anything. Ben eventually volunteers which leads to a very chilling eulogy and another hysterical line from Lapidus!

"John Locke was a believe. He was a man of faith, he was a much better man than I will ever be and I'm very sorry I murdered him." to which everyone looks up at him. Lapidus "Weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to." Classic....I wonder how everyone will react to Ben murdering Locke? In any case, I guess we can officially say RIP to the Man of Faith.

Smokey Goes Recruiting

We open up this great story line from Smokey's perspective and it was AWESOME! We heard the familiar sound but were flying all around the Island. I don't know how they filmed this brilliant scene, but it was great and screenshots cannot even do it justice. It seems to travel from where Flocke was holding Richard to the Barracks to check in on Sawyer (check out the reflection of the smoke in the window) and then Back to Richard.

After smokey heads back to Richard, there is a knife on the ground. He forms back into Flocke, grabs the knife and cuts Richard down from the tree. He tells Richard that it's time to talk.

Flocke gives Richard some water and apologizes for hitting him in the throat and dragging him off the beach but he had to do something. Flocke informs Richard that he has always wanted him to come with him. MIB knew that looking like Locke would give him access to Jacob because John is a candidate (more on that in a bit), or at least WAS a candidate. Richard doesn't seem to know what this is. Flocke starts trying to manipulate Richard to his side by accusing Jacob of keeping all of these secrets from him, and Richard blindly following him. "I would never have done that to you, I would never have kept you in the dark. I would have treated you with respect. Come with me and I promise I will tell you everything." Richard refuses to go with him. Flocke talks about people seldom getting a 2nd chance. Perhaps Richard was offered this proposal back when he first came to the Island? In any case, Richard stands his ground and refuses to go with.

Then out of nowhere, Flocke sees a boy standing in the jungle with bloody arms. It doesn't seem like Richard sees him. WHA? HUH??? Who is that??? My initial thought was "Kid Jacob" but does that make any kind of sense at all? Of course, maybe Jacob and MIB knew each other as children and this is some kind of ghostly appearance?

The kid vanishes, Flocke panicks and then says "I'll be seeing you Richard, sooner than you think."

Back at the Barracks

Flocke heads to New Otherton/Dharmaville/what have you and heads to Sawyer's residence. Sawyer is boozing it up and listening to a song that I'm sure has relevance to the situation at hand.

Good thing I have Shazam on my iPhone. It's Iggy & The Stooges "Search and Destroy" The lyrics revolve around the singer being the world's forgotten boy. And lyrics like "Baby detonates for me" Runaway sun of a Nuclear A-Bomb. Soul radiation in the dead of night. Man, could they have found a more fitting song for Sawyer?

Sawyer hysterically does not care that dead Locke is appearing from the grave. He pours him some whisky and gives it to him and walks to his chair. This dude has seen better days! "Here's to being dead!" he toasts.

Flocke - "You are taking this extremely well, that I'm here" I can't do Sawyer justice and will just quote him directly. "I don't give a damn if you're dead....or time traveling...or the Ghost of Christmas past. All I care about is this whiskey. So bottom's up....get the hell out of my house." Good times.

Flocke starts the manipulation by saying this isn't Sawyer's house and just a place that he resided here for awhile, this was never his house. (suggesting that his home is not on this Island) Sawyer reads through the BS and knows that this is not John Locke. Locke was a scared man even when he was pretending not to be. He can tell this guy is not scared. Flocke changes his angle and says that he is the person that could answer the most important question in the world. "Why are you on this Island" Now we're getting somewhere!!

Sawyer still has to get his 2 cents in. He talks about his plane crashing, his raft blowing up, the helicopter was riding one person too many. Flocke explains that this is not why he was there and he can prove it. "Well, I guess I better put some pants on!" I love it. I could probably sum most of this up in a couple bullets, but how can you not quote these classic lines!?

In the Jungle

Flocke starts asking James why he was alone and why he isn't with his friends at the Temple. Sawyer gets frustrated and doesn't want to talk to him anymore. Flocke abides. Then, the crazy ghost boy shows up again. But this time, Sawyer can see him too! Is it me or does he look a little older this time? He has no blood on his arms.

Flocke is shocked that Sawyer can see him. Has this dude been haunting MIB for ages or is it recent? Is it child Jacob? I have already speculated above. I guess we have to wait and see. But Flocke does chase after him. And eventually trips and falls.

The kid says "You know the rules, you can't kill him." Flocke says "Don't tell me what I can't do!" Okay, 2 things. Can he not kill Sawyer because Jacob touched him? Can he only claim people after they "die?" (like Sayid, Locke?) That is, if claiming is done by the Man in Black/Smokey entity. Other thing....woaaa why is he directly quoting John Locke? Is it because Locke is infused in his mind? Or is there some of John Locke in him? I'm so confused! In any case, Smokey/Flocke seems very scared by this creepy kid!

Back where Sawyer is

Richard comes out of the jungle looking totally freaked out. He is very scared of the MIB/Smokey guy. He tries to convince Sawyer to come with him to the Temple. But Sawyer wants his answers. Richard told him not to be naive and that Flocke is only going to kill him. Sawyer argues that he'd be dead already. Richard says he wants "all of you dead. everyone you care about...everyone and he won't stop...." Flocke shows up and Richard runs away. So perhaps MIB is trying to recruit all of the remaining survivors just to kill them off and beat Jacob at his game? Perhaps everything he says at the end of this episode is true except the fact that he wants to bring Sawyer with him. We'll get there.

In any case, Flocke acts like he never saw a kid to Sawyer. What is the point in that? To avoid questions?

In any case, they move on to the answers!

Wandering the Jungle

Sawyer references his favorite book like he did in Season 3's "Every Man For Himself". The book is John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Flocke says that the book is "a little after my time." The book was written in 1937, signifying that MIB has been there a long time. Of course we know the Black Rock was in the 1840's (or somewhere around then) and he was there then too.

Sawyer talks about the book again, just like he did to Ben, about George and Lenny in the woods and George shooting Lenny in the back of the head. He then pulls out a gun and points it at Flocke. "I'm wondering what will happen if I shoot you" Well James, I'm sure you'd get freaked out when the bullet bounces right off of him!

Flocke talks about being trapped and was once a man like James. He forgets what freedom feels like. But he says he still knows Joy, Pain, Anger, Fear, Betrayal, Loss of a Loved one. This seems like all of the things that the Smoke Monster can read from a person. He instructs Sawyer to shoot him but insists that he's so close to the answers. Sawyer gives in.

So this goes along with my (and probably several others) theory that Jacob bestowed this Smoke Monster role on Locke and he has been stuck that way for many years. Perhaps he is supposed to be a guardian/protector of the Island or the security system for the temple, but it seems he has gone rogue. But we can speculate for hours on end. Let's keep heading towards the big reveal!

The Cave and Its Surroundings

We arrive to a cliff on the beach with a long long ladder heading downward to a cave. Sawyer, not trusting Flocke, refuses to go down first. Flocke agrees to do it. It's a crazy journey down as step after step the ladder keeps breaking on Sawyer. Even the rope ladder. But this had to be a lot of fun filming. I'm sure there was lots of Blue/Green screen but it looks amazing. Flocke ends up saving Sawyer and gets him down (though I wonder how he'll get him back up! As Smokey???

When they get in the cave, we see a scale with a black and white stone on each side. Ahh the stone symbols. Flocke takes the white stone and throws it into the ocean, calling this an INSIDE JOKE. I laughed. But this could symbolize a lot. First of all, we should assume White = Jacob and Black = MIB. The scale tipped in MIB's favor when the white stone was taken off. Perhaps this was because Jacob is dead. But, let's harken back to the first time we saw black and white stones. It was with Adam and Eve season 1 in the cave. Interesting. Another cave, another set of black and white stones.

Let me just take a wild guess here. Maybe ADAM is the Man in Black's body and his wife was Eve. Maybe Jacob had a hand in their death's? And maybe the Man in Black's eternal struggle for revenge has something to do with Jacob's hand in his wife's death. MIB talks about still feeling a sense of LOSS. Seems to tie in nicely, right? Oh please, hold down your applause, I'll be signing autographs after the show! Thank you thank you!

Sawyer asks if that was why he was brought down here. And alas, it is not. Locke takes him into the next dark room and "ILLUMINATES IT" with a torch. (Carlton Cuse tweeted on Tuesday to watch the episode as "number" of answers will be "illuminated" Little did we know that he gave us answers right in plain sight!)

How do we begin discussing what we learned here? Yes, we all assumed that Jacob had been meddling with the Oceanic Survivors. Some even speculated that they might be replacements to guard the Island. All of this seems to be true. But seeing it all written on the wall like this with names crossed off and then THE NUMBERS attached to 4 - Locke, 8 - Reyes, 15 - Ford, 16 - Jarrah, 23 - Shephard, 42 - Kwon.....well let me just say WOW! Jacob has a thing for numbers, MIB says. There you have it friends, there is your answer to the numbers! Love it or hate it, but it is still a good time. Does that answer why Hurley won the lottery with them? Maybe. Why the coordinates brought the French Team to the Island? It's a stretch. Why DHARMA was putting the numbers on the Hatch and entering it into the computer? errrr Maybe. But, these numbers have been tied to these Oceanic Crew for some time now. Maybe there are more answers coming with the numbers. But it was still crazy. Note: Kate's name was not included in the numbers and we don't know which Kwon they are referring to. Another note: Remember in season 3 when Pickett said Jack wasn't on Jacob's list? What did that mean if he was a candidate all of the time? One more note: Jack's seat on Oceanic 815 was 23B...coincidence to his number? They don't all match up though as Locke was sitting in the row behind Jack.

I am going to attach a bunch of screenshots of the Cave Walls here. See what you can find. I spotted Claire Littleton on there but crossed out. Charlotte Lewis is on there somewhere (maybe not in these pictures but I read that). Gary Troupe (author of the screenplay Hurley was reading, died in the jet engine explosion on 9/22/04 and is an anagram for Purgatory) is there. Also check Dark Ufo's analysis for speculation. Tons of others:

Did Jacob bring all of the 815ers to the Island and mark them off as they died or he deemed them not worthy? Very interesting and will be interesting to hear Jacob's side of the story. As we are only hearing MIB's right now.

All of the people on the wall are candidates to be protectors of the Island. The Man in Black suggests that it's to protect from NOTHING. The Island needs no protection.

MIB goes on his rant about how Jacob brings all of these people the Island. (harkens back again to the season 5 finale conversation with the Black Rock crew "you brought them here" "it always ends the same" "it only ends once") Sawyer claims to have never met Jacob. Flocke guarantees they have met before. Probably as a child when he was very vulnerable, Jacob came in to point Sawyer in a direction PUSHING him to the Island. Pushing EVERYONE to the Island. At this point they start showing Jacob touching all of these people like we saw in the season 5 finale. Sawyer was at his parent's funeral about to write the letter to Locke's father Mr. Cooper/Mr. Sawyer about how he's going to kill him. His pen ran out of ink and Jacob gives him a pen to finish the letter.

"That's why you're here, that's why ALL of you are here" Our suspicions confirmed. Jacob's meddling made everyone destined to be on that flight. Did he touch anyone besides these 6? Well considering he touched both Kwons, I would think yes. It must be everyone on that wall.

Flocke gives Sawyer 3 options. 1.) Do nothing and possibly his name will get crossed off (ummm isn't Jacob dead?) 2.) Accept the job and become the new Jacob. Protect the Island from NOTHING! 3.) "we can just get the hell off of the Island and never look back" How? "we can do it together" So, what do you say James? Are you ready to go home?

Sawyer considers his options then says "Hell yes...."

We see a look of satisfaction in his decision:

BOOM LOST!!!

Well kids, now THAT is how a final season episode is supposed to be done! I loved it and I'm sure I missed tons of stuff to speculate, but I do have a day job to get to! We definitely need more information on the candidate business, like Jacob's side of the story. It seems that the sides are shaping up and we'll have our 815ers against each other for some time. Surely they'll all team up by the end though. But whose side is the right side? Which side will they support in the end? Widmore talks about the wrong side winning. Which one is the wrong side? And, the more I think about it, the more I am loving my Adam and Eve theory. It is probably 100% bogus, but it makes sense right!? If the inside joke has to do with Black and White stones, then this totally makes sense. Where is our MIB back story!? I want it now!

The next centric episode will follow along the lines of the season one centrics again. I will not spoil for anyone who doesn't know, but it will give you an idea of what story lines we will be visiting next week. I will be there in all my writing glory to recap another fantastic episode with very little sleep. Until then, I look forward to all of the discussions we will have on this blog. There are bound to be some good theories out there. Let's have 'em! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you next week! NAMASTE!

Ending Credits

LOST Merchandise/Contests:

Check out Cafe Press's vast collection of LOST Merchandise - There are clothes and other exciting things. Some designed by fans, and some can even be designed by you if you want. Check out the site and stay tuned because we may have some exciting free give away contests. Make sure you follow me on Twitter too because I may run the contests from there.

WIN A TRIP TO HAWAII!! Cafe Press also has a "Create your Own LOST T-Shirt Design" contest going on with prizes including a "We Have to Go Back" T-Shirt signed by the Season 6 CAST not to mention a grand prize of a trip for 2 to Hawaii!!! I'm no artist, but maybe some of you are. Check it out!

I took a night job to pay some extra bills writing forhttp://www.gather.com/. If you could, please click to view this LOST Recap on Gather to register me a page view. It will go towards a very small financial contribution for my efforts. Also, feel free to check out my other articles on the site.

Special Thanks to Dark UFO for the excellent Screen Captures! And also thanks to my iMac as I was able to create many myself. So by default, thanks to ABC too for allowing me to post pictures on the blog!